There was some discussion over on DT on keyboard wear since these keyboards use paint instead of plastic.  The summary is that the original batch keyboards' paint was more original-style and had similar wear patterns as the IBM originals, while the production of the past couple years and going forward uses only the reformulated higher-durability powdercoating finish.

"Everything is about tradeoffs. If you want an original formulation textured, matte appearance you have to accept the non-automotive quality paint finish. Uncoated paint does wear down after heavy usage (think how easy it is to scuff and chip painted walls), but the improved powdercoating of the most recent production run and the new formulation used with the recent cases should slow down the wear process. The tradeoff is that the new process is more of a mix between the Model M style finish and Model F style, and not exclusively the Model F style, but the durability is higher.

So far I have not received even one report of wear for the most recent formulation of the ultra compact cases (the two piece die cast aluminum cases).

Regarding a comparison to the originals: my guess is a lot of the old 4700 systems and their keyboards were only used for several years in the 80s before they were shelved at the recycler companies after the banks upgraded to more powerful systems as technology rapidly advanced from when these came out in the early 1980s, so much of the wear was expected to be sustained in the first year or first few years that they were actually used (even though I have heard reports from my recycler contacts of some small branches that still used the 4700 system consistently for decades, as of about 10 years ago)!

Having refurbished many of these original IBM keyboards, I have seen that many of them were repainted by third parties because the paint does not withstand usage for long. Also IBM had an option to rent these keyboards - my guess is that after a couple years many of them were replaced and refurbished just for cosmetic reasons, as part of a service contract or rental agreement. Often times the inner assembly and case manufacture dates were years apart (sometimes the reverse was true and the case was older than the inner assembly as they would just replace the inner assembly due to technological failure from what I have seen - many inner assemblies of my 4704 collection were refurbished in 1996)."

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Eventually, high end models will emerge (just look at the 6 and 7 figure watches, 5 figure pens, for example), coffee table books will produced, Christy auctions...

There's an interesting element to this though. Watches and pens are made by small families of highly trained craftsmen. Even in the automotive industry, the _variance_ is pretty small. Keyboards can and are made by anyone. Double down that one open source contributor is supplying the files, another manufacturer is fulfilling, and a third (usually untrained) builder is assembling the whole kit.

Funnily enough, the number of "should I assemble this, or keep the parts untouched" threads I've seen is increasing. People realize that building their keyboards actually might reduce their value. Buys will pay top dollar for new-old-stock, especially the high end boards.

I don't know if this will change, or matters. Keyboards sit somewhere between tradition art and the luxury items you listed. Kit cars are maybe the closest approximation?